The Peconic Bay Sailing Association hosted the 21st Annual Whitebread ‘Round the Whirl” Regatta on October 4th, 2014. The 30 nm race starts off New Suffolk in beautiful Peconic Bay Long Island, New York and then boats sail around Shelter Island and back, offering all sailors a challenge and against wind and tide.

This year was quite eventful and took place in some very challenging conditions. With winds in the 20-30 knot range and plenty of adverse current to deal with both the boats and crews were put to the test. Many boats took the morning start with reefs already taken in their sails. One boat participating in the race sank, and their crew had to be rescued.

Weegie, a Columbia 32, had a wet and wild race with 1 reef in the main and mast head spinnaker up. They took everything in their stride and sailed to a comfortable 1st place victory in their 8 boat class.

“I got a crash course in planing! Top speed for the day just shy of 18kts in 24true.”

The race, which consists of an approximately 65 mile course starting at Beach Point, extending to Stratford Shoal, and ending back at Beach Point, is widely considered the zenith of the junior big boat sailing season in western Long Island Sound. The rules require at least two adult “Advisors” to be onboard and at least 60% of the total crew must be Juniors. The Advisors are required to refrain from assisting the sailors with racing strategies and steering except when a safety issue is involved.

“Six Brothers”, a Columbia 32, competed in the race and took 1st place in PHRF Division A, and 1st place overall.Continue Reading →

The Around Long Island Regatta, first run in 1977, covers a 190 nautical mile course combining Ocean and Coastal racing. The course starts off Rockaway Point. The ocean leg runs along Long Island’s south shore from the Rockaways, Long Beach, Jones Beach, Fire Island, the Hamptons and on out to Montauk Point. Some boats choose the shortest distance, due east, hugging the shore, while others opt for deeper water in search of better wind. After rounding the point, boaters must judge wind, tide, and current as they head northwest to Plum Gut where they enter Long Island Sound for the final leg of the race, reading the shifting winds and tides along the north shore of Long Island or the southern shore of Connecticut. The race ends in Hempstead Harbor at the Glen Cove breakwater.

Even though there only being 2 boats in their Double Handed Division, Weegie’s corrected time was the fastest overall beating all 63 boats entered in race by almost a full hour. Despite their success they didn’t walk away with the overall trophy since the double handed fleet is not included even though the definition of the trophy reads as follows “The AROUND LONG ISLAND REGATTA TROPHY shall be awarded to the boat with the best corrected time in the PHRF fleet (time on distance)”. Read the discussion here.Continue Reading →

“Weegie”, a Columbia Carbon 32, was on the water again over Memorial Day Weekend competing in the 2014 Storm Trysail Club Block Island Race. This is a 186 nm distance race that starts off Stamford Harbor rounds Block Island and finishes back in Stamford Harbor. “Weegie” was sailing in the PHRF 2 (Time on Time) division – a fleet of 8 boats. They crossed the finish line after a little more than 37 hours to claim 2nd place in PHRF 2 and a very respectable 4th out of all 26 PHRF boats competing. Even more remarkable is that “Weegie” was sailing with a crew of just 3!

“”It was a fun race, the boat went wonderfully, we were looking at 10+ hours potentially of planing on the way home, but the wind turned making it mostly an upwind race. We did get the kites up for a bit on the back of Block, the ocean swells making it interesting! This race we had a code zero and our new square top main, our upwind performance was much higher on the polar meter. With all the upwind time, we held our own against much bigger boats.”

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Columbia Yachts is looking for well qualified sailboat dealers to represent the Carbon 32. Columbia Yachts is based on the West Coast so we are primarily looking for East Coast Dealers. There are already two Columbia 32s racing on Long Island Sound with others sailing on Lake Eire and Lake Lanier, GA – these boats are being sailed competitively and are winning regattas. There is a lot of potential for this all-carbon sailboat. We are looking for a motivated dealer that recognizes this opportunity and Columbia Yachts is committed to supporting the right dealer to help make the boat a nationwide success.

More racing news from the East coast as two Carbon 32s compete in Larchmont Yacht Club’s 59th Annual Edlu Distance Race. The race garnered a lot of attention as it was the first event in the US to pioneer the new “Plus One” concept of racing where boats are sailed short handed in an attempt to increase participation by not requiring everyone to put together large crews in order to sail their boats.

The Columbia Carbon 32 “Six Brothers” started the second weekend of the 2014 American Yacht Club AYC Spring Series in 1st place with a narrow 2-point lead (see pictures from the first weekend). The team, skippered by Chris Kramer, quickly picked up where they left off taking 3 out of 4 bullets giving “Six Brothers” only 16 points from 10 races (with one throw-out). This was enough to win their PHRF I Div 3 with a comfortable 6 point margin.

“We flew by the Farr 40 at 18.4 knots. The J/111s finished 9+ minutes behind us in a 15 mile race. The [Columbia Carbon 32] was flying!”

- Chris Kramer, Owner/Skipper of “Six Brothers”

This coming weekend, May 10th 2014, “Six Brothers” is back on the water along with the other Long Island Sound Columbia Carbon 32, “Weegie”, to compete in the 2014 59th EDLU Distance Race hosted by Larchmont Yacht Club.